ANTHROPOLOGY OF COVID-19: THROUGH THE EYES OF AN UNDERGRAD SEMINAR

“Unprecedented times” 

“Daunting challenges ahead”

“A new normal”

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"Hang in there”

“Take care”

“Stay safe and healthy”

Quick and fleeting phrases in emails and messages may come across as flippant at times, but in this case they have become a meaningful, if imperfect, reflection of the stress and upheaval, caring and worry that most of us have been feeling these past two months. 

We started the semester thinking about health from a global and anthropological perspective. At the time, for most of us, global still felt “far away,” even as we theorized about local-global connections. A virus outbreak in Wuhan, China became an exercise in thinking about the “eco-bio-social” dimensions of the illness from various theoretical perspectives.

But as we got closer to spring break, the virus and its realities got closer and closer to our campus and our lives. As we made the shift online and met via Zoom, we adapted our focus and the coronavirus took over many of our conversations. Theories and concepts -- health disparities, social gradients, biopower, “three bodies,” and primary health care -- solidified in our minds, becoming less abstract, more applicable, more hard-edged. 

• “Charismatic authority of medical and public health experts that could directly change discourse and behavior of people, sexism [experienced by] female healthcare workers and other frontline workers, the social suffering of lower-class people. The life of every person I know has been changed more or less by this pandemic, and COVID-19 even brought life turning points for some of them. I still cannot believe that the terms and concepts that we usually see in articles are now really happening to us.” ---Freya 

Abi notes that, as the pandemic emerged, this class helped her “see all of the moving pieces, rather than just what the media reports, only through a politicized lens.” The “ vocabulary and theoretical concepts” have “provided me a language to efficiently vocalize my thoughts and perspectives on this pandemic and the ways that this pandemic is going to change the way we live our lives.” Or, as Sydney said: 

• “Ideas of governmentality and biopower can be seen in some public health measures and how people may be protesting them. The anthropological idea of social suffering can explain how the effects of coronavirus is worse because of government support, less resources, or its effect on a whole family unit rather than specific individuals. All of these theories and ideas have illustrated the equity problems that continue to exist in the United States. These theories give us words to explain experiences and actions of everyone being affected by this disease.”

Jenna remarked that the class helped her think about how countries have responded differently to the disease, especially countries with centralized health care systems, as opposed to ours where “each state is facing coronavirus differently based on their governor’s plan.” Similarly, Gina reflected on how COVID-19 has challenged our ethnocentrism, seeing that “just because the United States is considered to be highly developed, we are not immune to the impediments and detrimental effects of disease -- both regarding health and infrastructure. Jay follows up on that idea by noting the severe “threat of inequity in health care systems from a country that was assumed to have the necessary resources.” 

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For students who have studied health mostly from a biomedical perspective, this class provided a challenge and an opportunity, as they learned the importance of “focusing on people” and looking at the coronavirus pandemic “through a critical lens” to understand the “implications of public health measures and the overall inequalities in health care” (Rebecca). Abi reiterates that the class “has allowed me to break out of a strictly biomedical lens to see how this disease is an extremely social disease, not only in the way that it has impacted social life around the world, but also the ways that our social lives paved the way for this disease to proliferate the way that it has.” 

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When we focus on people and think about structure and agency, Akaya says we learn to remember that “many people do not have agency or choice to adapt to this everchanging crisis due to limited resources and accessibility in comparison to others.” Similarly, for Abi, “structural violence, has been particularly helpful for my understanding of this disease, because I have been able to see instances where structural issues have played a role in this pandemic, and how they have played a role.” 

Finally, what we needed most during this time was community. Despite the distance of remote teaching, the awkward timing of Zoom interactions, and the upheaval in our lives, this class successfully navigated these hurdles to continue learning, thinking, and growing together. As the professor who often had to admit that at times I couldn’t keep up, I’m so grateful to this group for keeping me sane and reminding me of the importance of this communal work. Thank you, students, and thank you, readers! 

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STUDENT TESTIMONIALS: 

"This epidemic has pieced this class together in a direction that it possibly wouldn't have reached otherwise. We had to assume roles as anthropologists in the unpacking of this global health crisis in real time and we created meaning centered reflections and connections as the world around us constantly changed” --Akaya

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"Thus far in our class we have focused on the immoral treatment of specific groups in healthcare. We have done this on a global and local scale, examining and critiquing the ways in which healthcare is addressed. The coronavirus is a culmination of colonized medicine, bioethical issues, the influence of the media, issues surrounding poverty, race, gender, and so much more. The virus has revealed a deep, and gaping look into the flaws of the US healthcare system. The virus has revealed differential treatment on the grounds of race and class, and community responses to this treatment. By learning this year to analyze healthcare systems as complex, I feel as though I have been able to view the US response to coronavirus with a much more critical eye." --Maya

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"My heart aches for those whose voices are not being heard and whose needs are not being met, the people who are falling through the cracks during this pandemic. A theme in our class has been giving a voice to the voiceless, and I cannot help but watch as history repeats itself and people truly struggle to survive. The discrepancy between facts about the virus, the misinformation given by the people in power around the world, and the dismissal of its power and its global effect on healthcare practices in the future." -- Kat

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